What If She's An Angel?
by ballistics belle
Summary: "Just answer this one question for me Commander, how can you just go on with your everyday life knowing deep down that you could have been her saving grace?"
1. Prologue

**A/n: **This is a little bit different for me. It's more of an actual case fic than my other stories. I don't usually do this style so forgive me if it's a little rough at first.

The one thing that Elyssa had yet to adjust to in her new life was the sudden rush of adrenaline that surged through her every time someone startled her. For some seemingly understandable yet misguided reason, everybody felt the need to touch her to get her attention. Didn't they know better than to sneak up on people? Yet at least once a day Elyssa had to will her heart to slow down and not jump out of her skin when someone placed a hand on her shoulder with no warning. At least her friend Nick had finally learned his lesson after a few too many elbows to the gut not to come up behind her and instead made it a point to be in her sight line before getting her attention.

Elyssa took a long look around the University library. She liked spending time in the library because it was always quiet so she didn't feel like she was missing out on what was happening around her. She wasn't supposed to be there. Jack had told her a thousand times that she wasn't supposed to leave the house while he was at work but she had an English Lit final in a few days and she really needed to study. So she had taken the bus to get to campus and had found a corner to camp out in while she tried to wrap her brain around Chaucer. She didn't realize how long she had been sitting there until Nick sat down at the table across from her. He sat there for a second until she became aware of his presence and then smiled at her. Elyssa liked the way Nick looked when he smiled. It was unthreatening and sincere, which was something that had been become a rarity.

"Library is closing soon, Ellie." He informed her. "Time to pack it up. Do you need a ride?"

Elyssa looked over at her phone and saw the time. 12:46 am. Jack was going to kill her if he found out she'd been out this late, so she nodded to Nick and began to pack up her things. They walked out side by side to his car and as they were about to get in he stopped her.

"Hey, some of my friends are having a party. Do you want to go?" She looked at him hesitantly.

Parties were not her thing. Too much stimulation to her already overtaxed senses but she was trying to make more of an effort to open back up to people and have a social life. Plus she'd be lying if she said she didn't have the slightest bit of a crush on Nick. So she shrugged her consent and tried not to blush when he smiled at her again. They drove a few minutes across campus to a neighborhood that Elyssa knew was made up of most of the frat and sorority houses. A slight feeling of trepidation crept in but Nick seemed at ease as he helped her out of the car and placed a hand on the small of her back as he led her inside.

There were maybe two dozen people crowded into the front room and kitchen of the house and Elyssa had to take a steadying breath to keep herself from feeling overwhelmed. There was music playing and though she couldn't make out the words she could tell that it was playing just a touch too loud by the vibrations she could feel in her feet.

"Do you want a Coke?" Nick asked and she nodded. He disappeared into the kitchen and then quickly returned with a red plastic cup in hand. He led her over to the chair across from the couch that was occupied by two other guys.

"Ellie, this is Landon and Austin." Nick said, pointing to each one respectively. Landon smiled at her and unlike Nick's there was something about it that set off a weird warning in her mind.

"So I here you're from North Carolina." Landon remarked. Elyssa just looked at him. "My father is a U.S. Senator from North Carolina." He bragged. It turned Elyssa off and she hid her eye roll with the rim of her cup as she took a drink.

Landon continued to prattle on about his privileged life but the more he talked the less Elyssa found her able to concentrate. Her head began to feel fuzzy and she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. She looked over towards Nick to let him know that she wasn't feeling well. Landon noticed this and he stood, offering his hand to her.

"Why do you come upstairs? You can lie down till you feel better." Warning bells immediately went off in her head and she back at looked at Nick who just gave her one of his easy smiles.

"It's okay, Ellie." He reassured and then helped her to her feet.

Elyssa shook her head and willed herself to resist but her body wouldn't respond to her commands. She wanted to scream out but her mouth felt like it was packed with cotton and her broken voice failed her. She was helpless to do anything as she felt herself being picked up and placed over someone's shoulder before being carried upstairs. Her mind felt disconnected from her body as she was thrown onto the bed. As an unwelcome body pressed himself against her, she closed her eyes and disconnected mind from the world around her.


	2. The Morning Papers Read

**A/n: **Thank you to all of you who put this story on their alerts. It gives me the confidence to continue.

_They say that chivalry is dead, then why is her body in my bed? At sunrise the morning papers read, they found her body in my bed.—Cee Lo Green, Bodies_

"I hate these kinds of cases." Danny muttered as he and Steve walked through the emergency rooms doors. 5-0 had received a case about an apparent rape at a frat house party on the University of Hawaii campus. "How is this even our case? Why isn't HPD handling this?" Danny questioned. He hated rape cases. It took all he had to not look at the victims and see his little girl's face.

"Apparently the frat house the girl was found at is not just any frat but an exclusive one that is only open to a select few. I mean these kids have some pretty impressive lineages. We're talking the children of senators, foreign diplomats and numerous other high ranking parents." Steve explained.

"Ah so the Governor assigned us to the case to make sure that mommy and daddy can save face. I hope to God that the Governor does not expect us to turn the other cheek if one of these trust fund babies is responsible for this because I do not care who their parents I will do everything in my power to make sure that this scumbag never even thinks of hurting another girl again." Danny declared. Steve nodded in agreement. They both stopped outside the door to the patient's room and Steve looked at Danny.

"You should take the lead on this one." Steve suggested. Danny just stared at him.

"Why?" Though the detective already had a pretty good idea what his partner was thinking.

"Cause well…"

"Say it Steven." Danny commanded dryly.

"Well, you're better at this kind of thing…you know… because of Grace." Steve shrugged.

"Are you saying I'm better at talking to victims because I'm a father?" Danny asked, confused.

"Well yeah, that and you come off as less threatening than me and in this kind of situation-"

"Whoa whoa, less threatening? I'm not sure how I'm supposed to take that comment but I think I'm insulted." Danny retorted. Steve rolled his eyes.

"It's not an insult. This is a touchy situation and if we freak her out she might not talk to us. You are better with feelings and stuff like that." Steve explained. Danny stared at him for a second before nodding.

"I'm glad you can finally admit that, Steven." Steve frowned and headed into the room, Danny following behind him.

"Ms. Matthews? I'm Commander Steve McGarrett and this is my partner Detective Danny Williams from 5-0." Steve called out softly as they approached the bed. The victim, Elyssa Matthews, was lying on her side facing away from them. She showed no signs of acknowledging their presence.

"Ms. Matthews, I understand this is an extremely difficult time for you but we were wondering if you could answer a few questions for us." Danny prodded gently. Still no response. "The doctor thinks she might be in shock which is completely understandable." Danny whispered to his partner. He then slowly made his way around to the other side of the bed so he could see her face.

Elyssa had her eyes open and seemed to be looking out the window but there was a lack of focus in her eyes that signaled that she wasn't really staring at anything at all. Danny paused. He wanted to try to get her attention and thought about placing a hand on her arm but knew from prior experience that touching a rape victim unexpectedly was a very bad idea. So he opted instead to move into what he perceived to be her line of sight and then crouched down so that he was at eye level with her. Elyssa reacted violently as if she had just realized that he had entered her room. She jumped back away from the edge of the bed and laid on her back, panic and fear clearly written all over her face.

"Whoa Ms. Matthews calm down. My partner and I are here to help you." Danny said calmly as he stood but made no attempt to move closer to her. She stared at Danny's face intensely. "I'm Detective Williams. This is my partner Commander McGarrett. We just wanted to ask you a few questions." Danny repeated.

"Danny," Steve called out as he watched Elyssa watch his partner. "Look at the way she's staring at your face."

"My face? What's wrong with my face? Just a minute ago you were-" Steve snapped his fingers, interrupting him mid-rant. Danny looked over at Steve, annoyed but Elyssa continued to stare at Danny as if she didn't even notice Steve was in the room. "What are you thinking over there?"

"I'm thinking-" Steve started as he walked over to stand next to Danny. "-that she's trying to read your lips." He declared, watching the way Elyssa's eyes narrowed as she watched him speak.

"Read my lips?" Danny asked, confused. Steve nodded sadly, this case suddenly becoming that much worse.

"Yeah Danny. I think she's deaf."


	3. Not Ready Yet

_Our patience will achieve more than our force-Edmund Burke_

Steve was not happy. After confirming his suspicions that Elyssa Matthews was in fact deaf, he had sent Danny to find an interpreter for her. He returned with a nurse that was fluent in sign language who was insistent upon talking to Elyssa without them present first, claiming that they came off as too intimidating. So now they were forced to wait and Steve wasn't feeling very patient today. He had a bad feeling about this case.

"She's not ready to talk gentlemen." The nurse declared as she exited the room.

"We need to talk to her now ...Kelly." Steve stated as he read her name of her badge. "The longer we wait, the less she's likely to remember and the less we'll have to go on." He added, trying to get across the importance of the task but it only seemed to irritate the woman standing before him.

"Well I'm sorry for the inconvenience, _Commander_," Kelly said, crossing her arms over her chest as her expression went cold. "But you talking to her right now is only going to make things worse."

"How are we going to make things worse?" Steve exclaimed. He was slowly losing the little bit of patience that he had left in him.

"Look, I don't know who gave you permission to talk to her but that girl barely knows her own name right now and you wanting to go in there and force her to recall all the gruesome details is only going to upset her further." She declared.

"Did she tell you anything?" Danny asked gently. He didn't want to add to the tension.

"Yeah," she sighed. "She said that someone stole her hearing aids. That's all she could focus on. It's not uncommon for women who have been victims of sexual assault to focus on something relatively insignificant because they can't handle the magnitude of what they've just been through. We had a woman come in once who had been severely beaten, gang raped and left for dead in an alley behind her apartment. It had taken someone over a day to find her and her main concern when she was brought in was who was taking care of her dog."

"Anything else?" Danny pushed, hoping maybe Elyssa had told the nurse something that they could go off of until they were able to talk to her themselves.

"She also said something about a guy named 'Nick' saying it was okay. She didn't say anything more about it once she realized her hearing aids were missing." Kelly said. The earlier edge in her voice was slowly being replaced with weariness.

"Okay. Thank you for your help." Steve said sincerely, knowing he had managed to end up on the nurse's bad side with his impatience. His phone rang before she could respond.

"I'm sorry about my partner. He's not always a very good with people-" Danny started to apologize as Steve stepped away to the side.

"And you wanted me to let him talk to a rape victim?" Kelly asked incredulously.

"-But he has good intentions." Danny finished. She just gave him a look before turning her attention back to the chart in her hands. "You work a lot of sexual assault cases?" Danny asked. He could tell that for some reason, this situation was personal for her.

"More than I should ever have to." She said stiffly as if trying to keep her composure. "These girls…they come in and they are so overwhelmed and just looking for someone to keep their heads above the water and you cops come strolling in, making false promises to be their saviors …..but I can count on one hand the number of times I actually seen a guy pay for what he's done to one of these girl. So I guess you could say that I've become a little disenchanted by the process." She explained.

"Trust me, I've dealt with my fair share of jerk cops but my partner and I are just trying to find out what's happened to this girl and find the scumbag who did this to her." Danny said, still keeping his voice soft. Kelly took a deep breath and let it out.

"Look I'm sorry I snapped on your partner but I've witnessed a lot of police interviews with rape victims and you wouldn't believe the number of times I've heard one of them tell a woman that she's lucky and tell her that's it's okay…of course, those are the ones who actually believe what's happened to them is a crime. I've also encountered more than my share of cops who just think these women are crying wolf. They take a statement because they have to then do nothing with it. Their insensitivity devalues the pain that these women are experiencing." For a second, there was a twinkle of that pain in Kelly's eyes but it was gone before Danny could confirm it was even there. "Elyssa's sleeping right now but I'll let you know when she's ready to talk." She promised.

"Thank you." Danny said before going to join Steve who was standing down the hall. "Is it your goal to piss off every nurse we come in contact with?" He asked once his partner was off the phone.

"I have not pissed off every nurse-" Steve said, rolling his eyes as they began to walk out towards the car.

"No, the ones who don't hate you fall in love with you. Professional relationships are clearly a foreign concept to you." Danny declared.

"I know how to be professional." Steve stated.

"Really? Cause I don't think sleeping with your partner is very professional." Danny pointed out as they got in the Camaro. Steve gave him an incredulous look as he started the car.

"At least I'm not sleeping with my boss." He muttered under his breath.

"You can sleep on the couch tonight for all I care." Danny replied."Who was on the phone?"

"Chin. He's got something for us back at the office."


	4. Elyssa Was A Friend of Mine

_Tell me what you want to know oh come on, there ain't no motive for this crime, Jenny was a friend of mine—The Killers, Jenny Was a Friend of Mine_

"What do you have so far?" Steve asked Chin and Kono as he and Danny returned to the office after striking out at the hospital.

"Elyssa Matthews,24. Currently a freshman at U of H studying library science." Chin reported as he pulled up her college ID picture on the plasma screen.

"24? Isn't that kind of old for a freshman?" Steve asked.

"This is her second time around. She originally attended Northwestern University where she studied musical theatre. She was a senior but never graduated. She moved to Hawaii six months ago and is currently living in Kaneohe Bay." Chin replied.

"Kaneohe Bay? That's the Marine Corps Base. What's she doing there?" Steve wondered aloud.

"She lives there with her brother, Lt. Colonel Jack Matthews, USMC. He was recently assigned here at MCBH." Chin continued as he pulled up a photo of the Colonel.

"What can you tell us about the frat house she was found out?" Danny asked as Chin pulled up the new information on the computer.

"Simga ki. _THE _fraternity on campus. It's members include a very prestigious list of students such as 3 prominent U.S. senator's sons, a handful of high ranking CEOs and a couple of sons of foreign diplomats. If you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth you don't stand a chance of making it in." He informed.

"Great, only thing worse than tourists are trust fund babies." Danny complained.

"Wow Danny, you almost sounded like a native there." Kono said, smirking at the mainlander who just frowned back at her.

"Who runs the show over there?" Steve said, continuing on.

"That would be Landon Johnson, son of U.S. Senator Michael Johnson from North Carolina who happens to be a very high ranking member." Chin pulled up the ID picture of a smug looking blonde who had an air of arrogance and authority about him and knew it.

"Great, politics. I hate politics." Danny muttered under his breath.

"Elyssa said something about a guy named Nick." Steve said.

"That's probably Nick Green II, son of Senator Miranda Green from Oregon. He seems to be one of Landon's lackeys." Another picture was added up alongside of Landon's. Nick didn't have quite the look that his friend did but there was still no denying the fact that he was somebody who knew his place was above others.

"Okay, so Nick convinces Elyssa to go to the frat house where one of these pricks puts something in her drink and now even more defenseless than she was before, she ends up getting raped. Tell me, what kind of sick freak takes advantages of a deaf girl?" Danny ranted, clenching his hands that he had been waving around into fists.

"Did the hospital get anything off the rape kit?" Steve asked, ignoring his partner's outburst.

"The exam was positive for DNA. It's been sent off to the lab with a rush order. They also found skin cells under her fingernails so she at least tried to fight back." Kono explained from the crime scene reports.

"Good for her." Chin remarked.

"Also, her blood work came back positive for ketamine." She added.

"Oldie but nasty." Said Chin. Ketamine had been the date rape drug of choice a decade ago but had fallen out of favor with the younger generation when it became listed as a controlled substance making it harder to obtain. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen it used in a case.

"The levels weren't very high. Whoever dosed her wanted her incapacitated but able to remember." Kono informed them.

"Five minutes, when we find this guy I just want five minutes alone with him." Danny declared.

"Alright, Chin see if you can track down her brother. The hospital said they tried the contact number and got no answer. Kono, I want you to track down her friend Nick and figure out how he's involved in all of this. Danny and I are going to have a chat with Landon." Steve stated. Danny rolled his eyes.

"This ought to be good."

* * *

><p>"Nick Green?" Kono asked as she approached him in the Student Union on campus. He had his face buried in his laptop.<p>

"Ya?" He responded, barely picking his head up from the screen.

"Officer Kalukauha, 5-0." She stated, placing her badge between his face and computer.

"I'm sorry. Is there something wrong officer?" Nick asked, looking at her now.

"I have some questions for you about your friend Elyssa Matthews?" She said, carefully watching his reaction when she said Elyssa's name. For his part, he remained relatively neutral.

"What about her?" He said with a shrug but Kono could see his casualness was forced.

"You brought her to a party at your frat house last night, right?"

"It wasn't really a party. More of a causal get together to de-stress from finals." He corrected.

"Right," Kono tried not to roll her eyes. "But you did bring her along, did you not?" She repeated.

"Elyssa is a friend. She's been working hard with finals and I thought she could use a break. It's not easy for a girl like her and she doesn't have many friends, so I invited her." Nick explained.

"A girl like her?" She asked, playing dumb.

"You know, with her being deaf and all. She doesn't really talk and most people can't sign so they just leave her alone. I felt bad for her and since I know some basic sign language, I thought she could use a friend." Nick said and Kono could tell that he was sincere.

"So what happened when you got there?" She asked, wondering if his sincerity would last.

"We were just sitting around talking. I could tell she kind of had a thing for one of the other guys and the two of them disappeared somewhere." He told her, his eyes shifting back down to the computer.

"She just took off with some guy?" She asked, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"Hey I didn't ask. All I know is that I didn't see them the rest of the night…did something happen to Ellie?" He inquired, suddenly seeming worried.

"Funny you should ask. Someone spiked Elyssa's drink, then raped her and left her for someone else to find." Kono declared purposely being harsh to see what kind of reaction she would get from him.

"It's wasn't me." Nick insisted immediately. "I was downstairs with the rest of the guys the whole time. You can ask them."

"Oh I will but if you really want to clear your name you can give me a DNA sample to rule you out with." She stated and she could see his hesitation. "If Elyssa is as much of a friend as you claim she is you should want to help find whoever did this to her and eliminate yourself as a suspect. Because right now you're pretty high up on that list consider you're the last person that she was seen with on campus." She pushed.

"I wouldn't rape Ellie." He declared. "I'm not that kind of a person."

"Then prove it by giving us a DNA sample." She repeated.

"I think I want my lawyer present first."


	5. Smooth Criminal

**A/n: **I don't mean to sound like I'm stereotyping college students but well…I am a college student so I know what they're like lol.

"What are you brooding about?" Danny asked as he watched Steve's knuckles turn white as he gripped the steering wheel.

"I'm not brooding." Steve said, rolling his eyes.

"Well judging by the vice grip you've got on the wheel and the look on your face that says you're going to put someone through a wall if they blink the wrong way, something is definately bothering you. So why don't you tell me before the throbbing vein in your head explodes?" Danny suggested. Steve looked over at him and frowned.

"Why take Elyssa's hearing aids?" It was a something that had been bothering him since they had left the hospital.

"Make her more defenseless?" Danny offered with a shrug.

"Yeah but you'd think he'd want her to hear him. He'd be able to inflict more damage and torture her more that way." Steve pointed out.

"She does lip read but I can't think of too many women who can look their rapist in the fact." Danny added. "So what? Are you thinking this guy took the hearing aids as some kind of souvenir?"

"I think it's a possibility." Steve reluctantly admitted. Danny sighed and shook his head.

"This case just keeps getting worse."

* * *

><p>The Sigma Ki house was located just off campus near the Ala Wai Golf Course and Country Club. Danny rolled his eyes as he looked at the mansion that they called a frat house.<p>

"How is it that these college kids can afford to have a better house on this island than we can?" He complained as they parked the Camaro out front.

"Because they're not paying for it. This is mommy and daddy flaunting their wealth and status for everyone to see." Steve declared. "And besides, what's wrong with our house? I happen to think it's a whole hell of a lot better than some of the dives you've called home while you've lived here."

"It's the principle of the matter. You and I are dedicated civil servants and these kids sleep till noon and party all night."

"Life's not fair, Danno."

"Like I need reminding." Danny muttered under his breath as Steve knocked on the front door. A bleary eyed guy wearing a U of H hoodie and sweatpants opened the door.

"Yeah?"

"5-0. We're looking for Landon Johnson." Steve announced.

The kid grunted and opened the door wider to allow them to enter. He then pointed into the first room to the left before disappearing. They entered the room where they found the sole occupant lounging on the couch which a video game controller in his hand.

"Landon Johnson? Commander Steve McGarrett, Detective Danny Williams. We're here to ask you some questions about Elyssa Matthews." Steve stated as he flashed his badge.

"Who?" Landon asked, looking disinterested as he continued to focus on the television.

"Who?" Danny repeated, surprised. "Elyssa Matthews, the girl who was found unconscious in this very house this morning."

"Oh, that girl." Landon replied, sounding disinterested.

"That girl? What? Is finding an unconscious woman a common thing for you?" Danny asked.

"Detective, this is a college campus. Finding a girl passed out drunk is kind of a daily occurrence." Landon explained as if he were talking to a child.

"Well this girl is special you see, because she didn't just pass out drunk. She was drugged and then raped. Does that refresh your memory any?" Steve stepped in, sensing his partner's irritation.

"I don't think I like what you're trying to suggest, Commander." Landon said, sitting upright now as he set the controller aside.

"I bet you don't." Steve smirked. "Look, a smart guy like yourself should know how this goes, especially since it's not your first rodeo. So just tell us what happened to Elyssa." He said casually. Landon glared back at the SEAL.

"You gentlemen seem fairly competent at your jobs so I'm sure you'll understand what I mean when I say I want my lawyer."

His reaction was exactly what Steve had been expecting from the younger man. He had read his file before they had headed over here and this wasn't the first time that Landon had been involved in a situation like this. He had been a freshman at Duke when a girl had accused him of making unwanted sexual advances on her. There hadn't been enough evidence to charge Landon with anything and the girl eventually dropped the allegations but the next semester, Landon transferred from Duke to University of Hawaii.

"Hey, we're just having a conversation, no need for lawyers—unless you've got something to hide." Danny said. Landon smirked.

"I'm sure you boys think I'm just some dumb country hick but my father-"

"-is a U.S. Senator-ya we read your background and frankly I've had more thrilling reads." Danny said dismissively. "We just want to know what you know about Elyssa Matthews. We're not accusing you of anything." _Yet_. He added in his head. Landon looked at the partners for a minute before speaking.

"I don't know Ms. Matthews personally. All I know is that she came by last night with one of the guys and she seemed pretty smitten with him. I saw them brief when they first got here but after that I couldn't tell you what happened. There were quite a few people here last night." Landon stated diplomatically. Both Steve and Danny resisted the urge to roll their eyes.

"Which of the guys did she come with?" Steve asked.

"I believe it was Nick." Landon answered.

"Nick Green?"

"He's the only Nick here in the house." He responded. "Now if you'll excuse me gentlemen, that's all I'm going to say without my lawyer present."

"I can honestly say that I don't look forward to meeting him." Danny said as he and Steve started to leave.

"You think he's lying to us?" Steve asked as they were out the door.

"He's a politician's son…of course he's lying to us!" Danny phone chimed as they pulled out of the driveway. "It's a message from Nurse Kelly. She says that Elyssa is ready to talk."


	6. Her Story

**A/n: **anything in _italics _is something being signed. I wanted to have her voice telling the story and not constantly be talking through another person.

Kelly was waiting by the door when Steve and Danny arrived at the hospital to interview Elyssa.

"She says she's ready and wants to talk to you guys, but if it gets to be too much I'm pulling the plug on this." She warned before allowing them to enter the room.

"Understood." Steve said, not wanting to piss the nurse off yet again.

They headed into the room together. Kelly took up her post next to Elyssa on the left side of the bed while Steve and Danny stood on the other side. Kelly then gently placed a hand on Elyssa's shoulder to signal their presence before she began to sign to the younger woman.

'_Elyssa, this is Commander McGarrett and Detective Williams. Do you think you can talk to them about what happened the other night?' _Elyssa nodded and quickly responded back.

"She says that she was at the library studying." Kelly said as Elyssa's hands moved quickly. "She wasn't supposed to be out of the house that late but finals are coming up and she needed to do some research for one of her papers."

"Why wasn't she supposed to leave the house?" Steve asked.

'_Jack doesn't like me to be out on my own when he's on assignment but I lost track of time.' _Elyssa signed back.

"Jack is her brother?" Danny asked, looking to Kelly to confirm. Kelly began to sign but Elyssa wasn't looking at her but the two men in front of her instead. She stared them down for a moment before responding.

"_The worst part about losing your hearing is that suddenly the rest of the world goes blind. I can read lips so I ask that you look me in the eye when you speak to me just as you would anyone else.' _She requested.

"I'm sorry, Elyssa." Steve apologized sincerely for the both of them. He made sure to look at her this time when he spoke. "Jack, that's your older brother?" She nodded.

"_He's a Marine stationed here on the island. He's really protective of me." _Elyssa signed, her shoulders slumping as she went on. "_Jack is on a training exercise right now and I….I just wanted to show I could take care of myself." _She added and a few tears slipped off her cheek and onto her blanket. Kelly rubbed her arm gently to comfort her.

"What happened at the library?" Danny continued softly.

"_I didn't realize how late it had gotten until Nick found me." _

"Nick? Nick Green?" Elyssa nodded.

"_He said the library was closing and offered to give me a ride home." _She admitted.

"What happened when you were leaving the library?" Danny inquired.

"_Nick invited me over to the frat house. Said some friends were having a party."_

"Do you know Nick well?" Steve asked.

'_Yes…at least I thought I did…He's my friend…I trusted him'_ Ellie's hands started to shake a little as she signed and her eyes got a faraway look in them. Steve could see by the look in her eyes that it would be a long time before she would trust anyone again.

"Why did you agree to go with him to the party?" Steve questioned.

'_I wanted to do something to feel normal again.' _She admitted as she started to cry harder. Kelly wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders to try to comfort her.

"Gentlemen, I think she's had enough for now." She stated.

"We need to know what happened once she got to the frat house." Danny declared reluctantly. Kelly sighed as she signed the question. Elyssa took a deep breath before she answered.

"_I don't really remember." _She admitted. "_We were sitting around in the living room. I remember feeling really tired and one of the guys suggested I go lay down…..Nick said it was okay. I knew something was wrong but I couldn't stop it. I tried to scream but nothing came out…..I couldn't stop it….I just wanted it to end." _Elyssa's tears turned to sobs and she covered her face with her hands.

"Now we're done." Kelly insisted. Steve and Danny nodded in agreement and then silently slipped out of the room.

"It's not much to go on." Steve stated, slightly disappointed. They didn't know much more now than they did before. "Unless we can get a DNA match, we're going to have to hope she can ID this guy somehow."

"If she hasn't blocked it from her mind." Danny added as Steve's phone rang.

"It's Chin." Steve announced as he answered. "Chin, what's up?"

"I just talked to Colonel Matthews CO and he said that his unit just returned to the base. He said he would hold off on telling him until we could get up there to talk to him." Chin explained.

"Alright, Danny and I are just finishing up here at the hospital. We'll head over there next. Did Kono get anything from the friend?" Steve asked.

"She said he admitted to bring Elyssa to the frat house but claims that she willingly left with one of the other guys there. When she asked for a DNA sample he lawyered up."

"There's a surprise." Steve muttered. "Look and see if you can dig up anything else on Nick Green or Landon Johnson. We need some kind of leverage to get them to talk." He requested.

"Will do." Chin replied before he hung up. Steve turned towards his partner.

"We have to go talk to Jack Matthews and let him know what happened to his sister." He informed. Danny bit back a groan.

"That's all you babe." Danny stated. He did not want to be the one to tell the Marine that his sister had been drugged and raped. Steve frowned at him but any response was cut off when Kelly exited the room, her eyes slightly red and sparkling with tears.

"Is she okay?" Danny asked sympathetically as the nurse composed herself.

"She will be." Kelly said. "She's asking about her brother."

"We're just about to go talk to him." Danny replied.

"Good. She needs him right now. The doctor wants to discharge her tonight if someone can come and take her home." She informed.

"We'll let him know." Steve promised. "Thank you for all your help." Kelly smiled at him sadly.

"If you really want to thank me, find the bastard who did this and make him pay."


End file.
